Meet the world’s animals.

Photos: 12,676 · Stories: 19,540

• Puna Plover Charadrius alticola

  

  This small plover lives by high-Andean rivers and lakes. Its head and neck colors change between breeding and winter plumage.

• Tahiti Monarch Pomarea nigra

  This forest monarch occurs on Tahiti. Young birds have orange plumage; black feathers increase as they mature, and birds are fully black at about four years old.

• Galapagos Shearwater Puffinus subalaris

  This seabird is endemic to the Galápagos and often occurs near shore. A 1965 field study, using the then-current name Audubon's Shearwater subspecies subalaris, recorded it feeding around shoals of fish.

• Red-throated Crag-Martin Ptyonoprogne rufigula

  The Red-throated Crag-Martin is a small swallow found widely in western and eastern Africa. It is dull brown, uses rocky and arid habitats, and attaches mud nests to cliffs or buildings.

• Bower's Shrikethrush Colluricincla boweri

  A northeastern Australian forest bird that is usually solitary and territorial.

• Blue Manakin Chiroxiphia caudata

  Males have blue bodies, black heads and wings, red crowns, and long central tail feathers. Females are green, and the species lives in humid forests.

• Yellow-billed Magpie Pica nutallii

  This magpie is confined to California. Its black-and-white plumage has blue-green iridescence, and its bill is yellow. It lives in open oak woodland and grassy oak savanna, often near plains, orchards or fields.

• Sacred Kingfisher Todiramphus sanctus

  The Sacred Kingfisher lives in Australian forests and wooded edges. Many birds that breed in the south move north for winter.

• Rufous-naped Lark Corypha africana

  The Rufous-naped Lark is a large lark whose rusty wings show in flight. Pairs live in grassland and savanna, and the bird is conspicuous singing in spring and summer.

• Lovely Cotinga Cotinga amabilis

  The male is metallic blue and purple, while the female has a scaly gray, brown, and whitish pattern. It uses humid forest canopy, sometimes gathering at fruiting trees.

• Hook-billed Kite Chondrohierax uncinatus

  The Hook-billed Kite is a raptor of tropical American forests and wooded streams. It cracks tree snails with its hooked bill; males are gray, while females have brown upperparts and chestnut barring below.

• Zapata Wren Ferminia cerverai

  This wren occurs only in Zapata Swamp in southwestern Cuba. It has a long tail and bill, builds a grass nest, and eats a varied range of small animals and other foods.

• White-eared Solitaire Entomodestes leucotis

  This thrush lives in humid montane forest on the eastern Andean slope. A broad white cheek-and-ear stripe stands out against its dark head and underparts.

• Vermilion Tanager Calochaetes coccineus

  This tanager occurs on the eastern Andean slopes of Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. It has a deep red body with a black facial mask, throat, upper breast, wings, and tail, and joins mixed flocks in mountain-forest canopies.

• Red Fody Foudia madagascariensis

  This small Malagasy bird's male turns vermilion during the breeding season. It hangs a ball-shaped nest woven from leaves high in a tree.

• Lesser Greenlet Hylophilus decurtatus

  The Tumbes population in north-western Peru is recorded in humid and semi-deciduous forest, from the canopy to the subcanopy. The local account describes an olive back and grey head.

• White-bearded Antshrike Biatas nigropectus

  The White-bearded Antshrike is associated with bamboo in the Atlantic Forest. Males have a black cap and white face, while females have a rufous crown.

• Cinnamon Ibon Hypocryptadius cinnamomeus

  This sparrow-family bird lives in the cloud-forest canopy of Mindanao. Its skull has a feature also found in seed-eating sparrows.

• Socotra Cisticola Cisticola haesitatus

  This small cisticola occurs on Socotra Island. It uses low coastal scrub and places where scattered shrubs grow in grassland.

• Greater Pewee Contopus pertinax

  The Greater Pewee occurs widely in Mexico and breeds in mountain forests in Arizona and locally in western New Mexico. In the U.S. it is mainly a summer bird.

• Choco Tapaculo Scytalopus chocoensis

  This tapaculo was described from wet Pacific-slope forest in Ecuador. The paper describes a male type specimen and notes that earlier reports had assigned the species' vocalizations to other tapaculos.

• Plain Pigeon Patagioenas inornata

  This large pigeon lives on Caribbean islands. It uses forests, wetlands, and other habitats, which differ from island to island.

• Sao Tome Spinetail Zoonavena thomensis

  This small swift is endemic to Sao Tome and Principe. It feeds on the wing and is marked by a pale rump band and a streaked underside.

• Crested Duck Lophonetta specularioides

  A northwestern Patagonia account describes this duck's crest and its feeding near lakes and rivers, where it takes small aquatic animals.